Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney said on Monday that he had no regrets about the deterioration of his relationship with the club's legendary former manager Alex Ferguson.
Rooney was dropped towards the end of Ferguson’s 27-year Old Trafford tenure in 2013, with the Scot subsequently explaining that the former Everton striker had asked to leave the club for a second time.
But Rooney, appointed United captain by Louis van Gaal last year, said that he continues to hold Ferguson, now a United director, in the highest esteem.
“I don’t know if anyone knows how things ended,” Rooney said when asked about his relationship with Ferguson on the eve of England’s Euro 2016 qualifier, at home to Switzerland on Tuesday.
“I still see Sir Alex quite a bit at games, and he travels away to European games with us. We had differences. That’s normal.
He cited Roy Hodgson, England’s manager: “He’s had differences with other players,” Rooney said. “That’s part of football.
“I’m not the only person who had differences with Sir Alex Ferguson, but I can still sit here and say he was the greatest manager of all time.
“It’s not that we don’t like each other. We just had differences. That’s normal.”
Rooney equalled Bobby Charlton’s England scoring record by netting his 49th international goal in a 6-0 win away to San Marino on Saturday and will be hoping to claim the record outright against the Swiss.
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